The Times: Dutch pension fund sues Shell over reserves scandal: “Sir Mark, the Shell managing director who retired before the scandal broke and who has largely escaped censure, is accused by the plaintiffs of signing off on the false and misleading 1999 and 2000 annual reports and knowingly or recklessly or negligently authorising other reports which were materially false or misleading.”: Tuesday Jan 10, 2006

By Patrick Hosking

A PENSION fund giant with 2.5 million members and €168 billion (£115 billion) of assets launched a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell, its auditors and some of its directors yesterday.

ABP, which looks after the pension funds of Dutch public sector workers and 25 other Dutch pension funds, is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation over Shell’s exaggerated-reserves scandal.  

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the former Shell chief, and the auditors KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are among the defendants accused of making false and misleading statements.

The Dutch funds said that as a result of the alleged mistatements they paid inflated prices for Shell shares. Shell, which has been fined by American and British regulators for misleading shareholders by exaggerating its oil and gas reserves, said that it would “vigorously defend itself against the action”.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant and the two accounting firms are already facing other class-action lawsuits from American investors over the scandal. Shell last year paid out $99 million to other plaintiffs.

In a 150-page document, lodged in the US district court of New Jersey, the Dutch pension funds allege a catalogue of failings by Shell and its advisers.

Sir Mark, the Shell managing director who retired before the scandal broke and who has largely escaped censure, is accused by the plaintiffs of signing off on the false and misleading 1999 and 2000 annual reports and knowingly or recklessly or negligently authorising other reports which were materially false or misleading.

Sir Philip Watts, Shell’s former chairman, Judy Boynton, former chief financial officer, Walter van de Vijver, former exploration chief, and Jeroen van der Veer, the present chief executive, are also being sued.

PwC said yesterday that it had not been served the papers and could not comment. KPMG had no comment.

ShellNews.net: The relevant court document can be viewed via this link: http://www.gelaw.com/royaldutchshell.html

(select "Complaint (filed copy).PDF")

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